Thursday, July 28, 2011

No moon, the darkness of night slowly consuming the fading light.
The lagoon for now still visible, but just barely. Soon the only interruption to the inky black will be a thin strand of smoldering embers at the horizon, nothing else till morning.124

Sunday, July 24, 2011

I'm happy to report that my two paintings for the Oceanside Museum of Art sold saturday at their 'Summer Soirée'. Links to previous posts on this here and here or see below, a couple posts back.

I'm also fortunate to have some of my paintings offered in their museum store. 7 small oils and one watercolor.
The 3 below currently on my blog here, here and here. The train used for my Avatar/Favicon/Photo URL in a cropped version.
The others will come in (near) future posts.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Besides recent and current projects, I am incredibly busy preparing for an upcoming show in the fall at the Randy Higbee Gallery.
Up to 50 works, paintings and drawings in various mediums including mixed media, at assorted sizes from the smaller 5" x 7"s up to at least 24" x 36" maybe larger.

I plan on showing several current series; my favorite assorted industrials, trains, burnscapes, seascapes and especially the bridge series which the show will center around and one I haven't yet really shown other than a couple of 6" x 6"s at previous shows. I'm also going to try to include a small percentage of works (hints) of new series which have been rolling around in the back of my head for some time.

As the show nears I'll post a few random images of whats to come, so stay tuned...

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

oil on panel, 2011 10" x 7.5" (25.4cm x 19.05cm)View the complete art auction online; Oceanside Museum of Art BlogFor more info or to place a bid on any artworks in the silent auction call 760.435.3722or email ; danielle@oma-online.org.

Here are my two paintings for the Oceanside Museum of Art Auction/Fundraiser. See previous post for more info.Having visited the museum during the day as well as after dark to really study the architecture I decided to focus in on its entrance instead of a panoramic view, choosing two slightly different views, each taking advantage of that time of day and night.

"OMA #1"This is the most dramatic nocturnal view of the Oceanside Museum of Art entrance. Lit up from inside, the architecture has a completely different character with an emphasis on it's warm interior.Diagonal lines of light, the stairwell and interior corridors converge on the museums strong signature "O" located prominently at the center base of a pyramid shape formed by the lights of the upper hall and highlighting the reception area.

"OMA #4"This is my favorite view of the Oceanside museum of Art; it transforms the formal architecture into diagonal planes and highlights the strong lines in the windows.The reflected light off the unseen side of the glass provides extra drama against the dark marine layer.The Museums strong signature "O" logo is prominently featured against the dramatic glass architecture of the entrance and draws in artists, art patrons and the public.122,123

Friday, July 15, 2011

The Oceanside Museum of Art, a hidden gem in north San Diego County California, recently held the artist donor reception (June 26th) for their 'Summer Soirée Art Auction 2011'. I had the pleasure of meeting lots of interesting people, including other artists whose work is also part of the auction.
Events like this are always a treat because it gives us artists a chance to give back to the museums, the venues that in turn support our love of creating and earning a living through art.
The auction/fundraiser is June 28th through July 23rd, culminating in their Summer Soirée held Saturday July 23rd at the museum. All proceeds from the sales of art go to support the museum. Bidding is open to the public.

I had the honor of painting two pieces for the auction (bottom photo), choosing to focus on the stunning architecture of the museum.

As you can see from the first two photos, the huge plate glass windows are actually sliding doors that allow them to turn the museum reception area into an open air event, perfect for the summer.

For more info on the art auction click here.
Click images for larger view

Monday, July 11, 2011

*Based on a comment from a follower (Thank you Erin) I have posted an update to the "Value Thumbnails" post here.

Something that did not occur to me at the time was to go back and update the original post as well as link the finished paintings back to the thumbnails. All relevant posts now link back and forth.

This shows part of the process artists go through in creating images, whether they are paintings or other mediums. Part of the process because sometimes there are steps in between thumbnails and finished work, on these I felt further study wasn't needed.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

The Crussell Fine Arts International Survey 2011 that I am included in and mentioned in an earlier post here is now available here on Lulu.

Jeffrey Crussell Fine Arts has been exceptionally generous in promoting all the artists represented in the periodical by passing out the above postcard at art fairs, galleries and gallery openings around the US, including Miami, NY, LA, San Francisco and Orange County California. Additionally they have been showing the book to galleries, collectors, curators and various industry professionals including architects and developers.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

The nocturne... its origin, mid 19th century French from Latin, nocturnus, meaning 'of the night'.

From my Tree Nocturne series. This was painted in one sitting or alla prima. Alla Prima, derived from Italian meaning 'at the first'.
I very rarely complete a painting in one sitting since I prefer working in layers but sometimes the image just 'falls out onto the surface' as it did here.

Painted from my imagination having seen so many urban and suburban parks. Hints of buildings, a walkway and sloping grass was enough.121

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About My Blog

Thank you for visiting my blog. Before I started this I very carefully considered the purpose and intent of a blog. Unlike a website it gets updated more frequently, contains more text, and may contain other info or updates not seen on a website.

As others have done, I decided it would be more like a book or journal. Here is the place for my insights on art, my work, and specific images. Something that I miss on some blogs. I'm always very interested in how other artists think, how they arrived at their images, their own uniqueness... different than my own.

When I want to just see images I visit their website, when I want to know more, I visit their blog. I see no reason to have both the same.

With that in mind I designed my blog to be as simple as possible so as not to detract from the art or writing. And although it will be constantly evolving I will try not lose sight of that.

Using the book model, I choose a blog title (book title) and use post titles (chapter titles) different than the titles of the images. Why be redundant? That info is available directly under the image.

Sometimes image titles in series are long or all have similar names, making blog archive searches for a specific image harder to remember and find. So a couple of words taken from or relating to the writing for that post title will make it easier to remember for some, since the writing and image are tied to each other as well as serve as an alternate title, which I don't mind.

About My Work

My artwork generally falls into one of five genre's; Industrial, Seascape, Cityscape, Landscape and Figure. These five genre's very often are a vehicle for representing some other idea, impression or statement. Which means the image may be a cityscape for example, but beneath the surface lies something more. I hope you take the time to examine my work on this basis... looking for the real content... because I know for me, that is where the real joy begins.